One of the key elements of this project is to place Cymru (Wales), and specifically pre-Roman Cymru at the heart of the discourse. Wales and the Welsh are now the common names used when referring to the country and its people, but they are not the names in the language of the country, and English as the dominant language is a relatively recent phenomenon. To this end, the decision has been taken that where a Welsh name is in common usage for a place it will used preferentially if there is an anglicised version also in use.
The decision has also been made that in order to centre Wales, I will use the Welsh names for Wales (Cymru), Welsh – related to Wales (Cymreig) and Welsh – the Welsh language (Cymraeg). Initially it was planned to use Cymraeg for the names of other countries etc but unfortunately this became unworkable with the need to cross reference ending up detracting from the work.
I fully acknowledge that, especially for those unfamiliar with the Welsh language, this approach will take a little getting used to. Indeed, as a non-fluent Welsh speaker who has been through a predominantly English medium education it was initially more difficult to write in this way, but I feel strongly that it is an important linguistic shift to make.
Annwn BC 